1.13.2018
Can I Learn To Love Myself?5 Tips To Help You Love Yourself More
Move more
Practice good nutrition
Improve your sleep quality
Make time for you
Forgive yourself
9.16.2016
A Pet Can Lower Your Blood Pressure
Whether you favor purse-size pups or you are more of a cat woman, interacting with animals can decrease your blood pressure and cholesterol, and just being around dogs boosts levels of serotonin – the brain chemical responsible for lifting mood.
I should know. Our westie makes me healthier and his infectious energy is so delightful! Even if he totaled my guitar’s prs archon, I still love this little guy! I just feel so relaxed around him (and my doctor says my blood pressure is sooo normal!)
If you don’t have a pet, go to your local park and watch other people’s animals frolic.
3.18.2016
Random Reasons Why I Am Grinning Ear To Ear!
It’s officially summer!
And that is not the only reason I am grinning ear to ear.
Here are the other reasons:
I will be looking for the perfect summer getaway.
Way back (way, waaay back!) when I was a little kid, I used to spend my summer in this lovely beach at my father’s hometown at Santiago, Ilocos Sur. We used to have the beach to ourselves, but , of course, tourism got in the way and now, it is being developed into a Santorini-inspired resort.
I can’t get enough of Halo-halo, gelato and Ice cream.
I tried hard to stick to my diet (o.k, I lost.) and my workout, but seeing my favorite cold desserts, all over the place, always makes me happy!
I will be looking forward to a formal get-together with old friends.
I have not seen my old high school friends in a long while, and we are planning to meet up. Here is the deal though. We are planning on a formal gathering, to make us feel glamorous and sosyal for just a night. No worries though. I have been looking around and found a wide selection of gowns made available online only at ZALORA! I am so excited!
I will be shoeless!
I live in Baguio City, which can be cold most days of the year. It would be liberating to get rid of my shoes and go shoeless! Nah! Sandals and flip-flops will do!
9.18.2015
#OnFights
No matter what stage you are in your relationship, having fights are inevitable.
Here’s how to deal:
Arguments are expected in relationships, because you and your partner won’t agree on all things, all the time. During fights, don’t let your emotions get the best (or worst) of you. Fighting is like a song. It hits the high notes then everything cools down. Don’t attempt to throw off his cherished black fang guitar pick when you are angry with him. You will end up saying things or making decisions you might regret later on. But don’t avoid issues either – because the sooner you resolve them, the better.
Image Source: tumblr.com
3.07.2015
Wedding: A Celebration of Everlasting Love
You are the happiest girl in the whole universe! You’ve met your man of your dreams, and now you are engaged!
Planning a wedding is exciting. After all, you’re living your dream. Which little girl hasn’t played with their Barbie dolls walking on unrolled tissue paper?
Much as you would like your wedding to be perfect the way you have dreamed it, there would be a lot of hiccups along the way. After all, planning a wedding ceremony is pretty tough.
You would be deciding on many things: from the gown you are using, to the wedding vows you will be declaring to each other to the wedding gown you will be using to the band you will be hiring and what type of music they will be playing to the wedding décor to the wedding favors you will be giving. (Speaking of, here are some wedding favor ideas you will love!).
The best wedding parties I have attended, incidentally, are when the couple is so totally in love with each other. Their love just seems to radiates and transcends to every guest, making the ceremony and the party after wonderful.
There will disagreements with your partner, expect them. But remember what the wedding ceremony is all about. It is a celebration of everlasting love.
12.08.2014
When the clueless teen barely says hello when you stop by…
Go easy on him. He must be going through a temporary age-related manners lapse and is more interested in band accessories. It’s up to his parents to sit down with him later and remind him of the right way to welcome visitors. In the meantime, your role is to rise above it. Greet him happily and give him a hug.
9.18.2014
Want a healthy heart?
Do you want a healthy heart?
Love yourself!
Loving and believing in yourself boosts your confidence. Studies also show that a small boost of confidence can lower your heart rate, putting less pressure on your heart.
Keep good company. Friends and family who love and care for you is one of the best ways to increase your sense of self-worth.
Do things that stress you less. Instead of hitting the mall during the crowded weekdays, try shopping online and make sure shipping overseas is offered.
9.03.2014
Be Head- and Heart-Smart
Let me tell you something but promise not to judge, okay? I have this total thing for smart guys. Back in high school, it was always the smart guy who caught my eye. In college, my brother caught me talking to myself about this guy complete with dreamy eyes and staring at the mirror thing. Being caught by your brother talking to yourself about a guy – complete with “those” looney eyes is bad enough, but when that guy is not exactly that good looking (and your brother knows him!), it is kind of embarrassing.
I was raised with the idea that smart meant having good grades and making it to the honor’s or dean’s list. It was all about hitting the books, getting my idea of life from the books and trying to live my life based on the books.
After college, it was such a jolt to find out that life is not based on those books I read. Life’s biggest choices, such as pursuing your passion or choosing the guy to give your heart or giving prescription ped meds to your sick pet couldn’t be made just by being book-smart. You need to be life-smart as well.
A life-smart girl uses her head and her heart. and do take note, you use your heart and your head together. All the time. It’s not like using your heart today then your head tomorrow. The power in you comes when you mix the two in equal amounts.
If you do something you’re truly passionate about, whether it’s baking those cupcakes your friends love or writing a truly earth-shaking blog post or creating that perfect bracelet, you will notice that you have a clear picture of what you are trying to do, and when you do get stumped, you’re more than willing to learn how.That’s the head and heart working together, right there!
Taking your time to figure out what makes you happy, what makes you fulfilled and content and putting in extra time to learn more makes you achieve anything you want. Your heart and your head will work together to fuel your passion.
Coming from a fellow self-proclaimed smart girl, smart girls rule the world!
8.07.2014
A Beautiful Wedding
The past year has been tough for me and my family. It was a year of letting go of people we hold near and dear. A little less than a year before my dad passed away, my mother in law and one of my dad’s brother passed away.
But, one happy event capped that sad year. My cousin and his lovely bride walked down the aisle on the last Sunday of June and the entire family were united to witness the happy event. Beautiful music was played. I bet the band gets their stuff from Musiciansfriend.Com.
Here comes the Bride!!!
7.02.2014
Miriam Santiago and the Big C and thoughts on mortality
It has been ages since I wrote a very personal post and let me tell you why.
For the past few months, I have been confronted with mortality.
My mom-in-law and uncle died two weeks apart and on the day of my dad's first death anniversary, Toxie, my dog, died.
I know. I am at an age where people my parents' age are dying one by one. I know one day, someday, I will be seeing friends in the obituary, and that makes me feel scared.
Fearful of what will happen if I unexpectedly go...
Paano na ang blogs ko?
Just kidding. But my cousin is right ha. She is an anesthesiologist with those words of wisdom na sapul na sapul like the line na "we are more than half of our life span" which makes me fearful. Come on, I want to take care of my grandchildren. I look forward to growing old with the Vince. I look forward to witnessing my Adrian discovering a serum to stop cancer cells from growing! I want to be a part of the biggest French resto operated by Nicole. I want to see Paula be a doctor!
Kaya nga if these kids say I wanna die, hayy, I wanna kick them silly.
But wait, this is supposed to be about Miriam and her cancer, right?
I like her approach. If I were in her place, I would be bawling my heart out and lashing at all the people feeling sorry for me.
But you know what, it is scary when death is so real. I feel so sorry for Adrian for having to go to wakes because older relatives are going one by one.
I have a co-worker, Ate N., who is such a healthy, happy person, who turned out to have Stage 4 Lung Cancer. I cannot imagine the pain her children is going through.
I am taken back to the day I found my mom was sick and won't be getting any better.
You know when people leave the hospital so cheerful and happy because the patient is well?
With my mom, I left the hospital with dread.
She was diagnosed a day after Christmas of having falx meningioma, a big tumor on top of her head. Now this tumor grows soo slow, affects women at around age 40, and usually has no symptoms. With my mom, she probably had it in her head for around 20 years, and it only affected her when it became too big that it put a pressure on her head.
When I found out she had brain tumor and it will affect her mobility,sight and cognition, I cried.
I dreaded the day when she will not recognize me...
So every single day, I asked her if she knows me.
and every day, she tells me my name...
It was difficult watching her. The doctor said she will have five years, wherein her sight and mobility will be affected unless she will be operated on.
But she was frail. My dad won't have her operated even if I wanted to. The doctor said there will come a time when the cancer will try to take over the body and this may be the time.
So I see her standing up, leaning against the table and closing her eyes, because maybe, her brain failed to signal her muscles to sit down.
I see her bloated from the steroids, sleepy in the morning when she used to be up.
I see her being a shell of her former self.
And I take to crying.
And a month after she was diagnosed, she went.
It has been seven years and there is no single day that I don't think of her.
I look at my son who is now nine and feel bad that Lola has not seen him grow up. \
She must be really proud of Paula, who insisted that she slept beside mom even if she was sick na.
She would love Nicole and her voice. They used to vocalize with that Juanita Banana thing when Nicole was around three or four.
I would have asked her how her childhood was, her family history, stuff I failed to ask her because she was busy.
I would have told her I love her every single hour...
Teka lang, I was supposed to write about Miriam and the Big C! On the next post na lang.
1.31.2014
Things That Happen When You've Been Married Literally Forever
11.02.2012
November 1
Let me reserve my thank you posts tomorrow, pero advance po, Lord, make my coming year perfect. I have so many wishes right now your head might reel from reading it (hilong hilo ka nga from listening to all those requests, sisingit pa ako). Sana I am in your good graces. Di naman ako perfect, I admit. I should be wishing world peace, but I am imagining shooting laser beams to the haters via my round mirror in the office. I should be going to vespers daily, but I spend time in my netbook more. I should be down on my knees praying to you, pero I read more books. Wagas lang na katamaran po alam ko, and I know I am soo tiny into these universal scheme to even be asking something from you. But you know po my deepest wishes... Make them true po...
9.24.2012
Blessed Sunday!
Blessed Sunday everyone!
9.22.2012
Adrian Survives the Dentist
Yup, I made that up. But what did I tell you? I so care about my kid's health.
At 2pm, Adrian had his flu vaccine (and man, he never cries!) and later, have his teeth checked with the dentist.
Earlier this year, I had the biggest "inis" mode when I took Adrian to the dentist. It was his third visit and definitely not the firs t time his tooth is going to be extracted, but he did have his famous Adrianisms at work that time. Dig this, " Oh, I need to go to the bathroom." That would be perfectly okay if he went once. He went to the bathroom five times. I have to pay five pesos for each, too. Then, he got really freaked out when his gum went numb. He was crying. Very very scared. He thought his mouth was stuck!" Mama, my mouth is stuck. I don't want to stay like this forever!"And he was crying really loud too and with that bleeding mouth, I was scared people would think I punched him or something. He calmed down later though, when he was with his dad at SM.
So, anyway, this dentist visit made me nervous. But see, my Adrian is a very smart boy. I told him he needed to go to the dentist. And he was like, "okay, i am brave, but can I get a Wii game later?" Hokey, anytime, as long as you don't cry with bloody spit coming out of your mouth.
And he did well!The nice dentist had to remove a molar. See, his teeth is crowding and the dentist needed to do summary extraction. Never had this problem with his sisters. They barely went to the dentist!
And that new Wii game made him forget he doesn't have that tooth anymore.